Exhibition 'THE HONORING EYE: 18 Photographers Look at the World' in Terrain Gallery
The Terrain Gallery is proud to be showing some of the beautiful, surprising, genuinely moving photography of our time.
What way of seeing does a good photograph come from? Whether it’s of a railroad worker in Colorado, or a single white chrysanthemum; sunny rooftops in Brooklyn or an electrical storm in the Mediterranean—in every instance, the purpose impelling the photographer was to honor the world itself.
In an Aesthetic Realism class (later published as Afternoon Regard for Photography), Eli Siegel, the founder of Aesthetic Realism, said:
"The purpose of photography is to create an emotion about the world through what has been carefully seen and selected; to use a specific object to see the meaning of the world with."
And central to this show is the following principle stated by Mr. Siegel: “The world, art, and self explain each other: each is the aesthetic oneness of opposites.” As you look at these works and their accompanying comments, you’ll be finding out what the art of photography has to say about the world—and you.
Our title, The Honoring Eye, was a phrase Mr. Siegel used in relation to photography. It was also the title of a much-loved class taught here by photographer and Aesthetic Realism consultant Nancy Starrels (1921-84). We’ve chosen it because it describes so truly the intention behind every successful photograph.
